HYDERABAD: Panic ensued on Wednesday after Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) and Begumpet Airport received emails containing bomb threats. However, following comprehensive inspections by bomb squad units, these threats were confirmed to be hoaxes.
RGIA police told TNIE that GMR officials received the threat mail in the morning and alerted security personnel. A bomb squad and fire services were deployed, and a full sweep of the premises was carried out. Sources said the email was sent to the airport’s customer care email ID, and all measures were taken in line with SOP. A similar threat was received at Begumpet airport, which is primarily used for VIP movements.
Rakesh Kumar Sharma, General Manager (Security Operations), GMR, lodged a complaint with the RGIA police after a bomb threat email was received by the airport’s customer support team at 6.39 am on Wednesday. Based on the complaint, police registered a case under Sections 351(4), 353(2) of the BNS and 66D of the IT Act.
According to the complaint, the email claimed that a “human suicide bomb blast” would target the Hyderabad airport and Qatar Airways Flight 8650. It cited vengeance for “Operation Polo” and the recent arrest of activist Savukku Shankar as motives. The message also referenced “Explosively Formed Projectiles (EFPs)” allegedly developed at Anna University and claimed that eight IEDs, four in the airport and four aboard the aircraft, were rigged to detonate via RFID triggers.
The email, filled with cryptic references, also mentioned a person named Bilal Mustafa and claimed that evidence had been sent to a DMK functionary, PV Kalyanasundaram. “Release TNLA S Maran from Trichy Central [Prison] and drop cases against Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi and Jaffer Sadiq in the meth case,” it added.
It must be noted that the names of Sadiq and Kiruthiga, wife of Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, also appeared in the emails threatening blasts at Mangaluru airport and three hotels in Tirupati in 2024.
Police have launched an investigation and are verifying the authenticity and origin of the email. Authorities confirmed that thorough checks were carried out, and declared the threat a hoax.